Chinese Chews I Made It Ii

Chinese Chews

Cosmicmother 3 years ago
~Made for December 2020's "Festive Holiday" Recipe Challenge~

Chinese Chews by Auntybea

I was searching for recipes that use glace cherries as I had a few to use up. And when I saw this recipe pop up, I knew right away what it was! It was the first recipe I remember making by myself when I was 7 or 8 yrs old.
This is a very vintage recipe. The first known publication was in a 1917 Good Housekeeping magazine, submitted by Mrs.Platt of Northbend, Oregon. No one knows why they are called Chinese chews as there is nothing Chinese about them. It has dates and walnuts. The dates were probably exotic at the time.

That original recipe had no butter in it, and less flour. And says to bake the dough as thin as possible, then you cut and roll the dough into balls while warm and coat in granulated sugar. This recipe just says "cut and roll in powdered sugar while warm". Does she mean to roll them into balls first, or just coat the squares in powdered sugar? So I thought to try it both ways and see.

I grabbed my 7x11" cake pan instead of the 9x13". I'm glad I did as I couldn't see spreading this into a larger pan. I think a square 8 or 9 inch would work just as well. I baked it for the full 35 minutes, but I think they would be done in 30 min. I also cut the sugar down by a 1/4 cup. Thinking the dates, cherries and sugar coating would make it plenty sweet.
I cut them into small squares and rolled half of the warm dough into balls. But they kind of wanted to fall apart on me! (I think that's where the original recipe's less flour comes in). But the hotter center ones rolled a little easier. Since orange goes so well with dates, I added orange zest to some granulated sugar and rolled the balls in that. And the squares I just dusted with powdered sugar.
Both taste really great! I especially love the orange zest on the round ones, and I think adding the zest to the batter would be fantastic. The squares were also great, and has a lighter more cake like texture. My kids preferred the squares and my Dh and I preferred the chewier cookie like balls. The family actually thought I made two different recipes, and it does feel and taste that way!
I would keep this recipe as squares though, and just add some orange zest to the batter. It's much easier, quicker and looks prettier too. (If you wanted to make the balls I would reduce the flour to 3/4 cup to make it easier to roll).
Either way is delicious! And it tastes like Christmas. :)
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mommyluvs2cook 3 years ago said:

What are glace cherries? I figure they are something I know of but maybe just called something different here? Looks so yummy!

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eastcoaster 3 years ago said:

Those look delicious Shona, i have heard of Chinese Chews but never made them.
Your photos are Lovely.

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Cosmicmother 3 years ago said:

Thanks Michelle. Glace is a french term for candied cherries. (My keyboard won't let me do the accent above the e in glace!) Thats what they are called when I buy them here, they are in a tub in the bakery section with the other candied/dried fruits. :)

Thanks Manella! Does your Purity Flour cookbook have a recipe for them? I believe that's the cookbook I used when I made them as a little girl. :)

They are like date square filling meets cookie. :)

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eastcoaster 3 years ago said:

Shona, I do have the Purity Cookbook, I have no idea how old it is but it is pretty worn with pages stained and falling apart. I found a new edition in a bookstore in Halifax so i bought one each for my daughters. There is a difference, the new ones some of the recipes are not the same. I think I’ll keep my old one, worn pages and all.
The recipe is under cookies, perhaps I might try them.

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Cosmicmother 3 years ago said:

How neat Manella, I didn't even know they still printed the cookbooks, let alone make the flour (it looks like the only mill left is in Newfoundland). My dad is from Winnipeg and they used to have a Purity Flour mill there. I think the cookbook we had came from his mother. It's completely torn from the binding, and full of stains etc. But I told my Mom to keep it for me. I just love old cookbooks! But, I will have to look for the new editions too. Thanks for telling me! :)

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eastcoaster 3 years ago said:

Shona, I found the newer version of the cookbook 5 years ago and like I said it’s not
quite the same. I keep mine in a large zip loc bag to prevent more tearing, I love the book and not ready to part with it. What I did do was make copies of the recipes that I like and are fading. Your welcome and Good luck on finding one:)))

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